Civil Works Administration (CWA) Sites

A street improvement project in Hutchinson, Kansas was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. (PWA Docket No. KS 1266) Furthermore, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted numerous paving projects in Hutchinson from 1933 to 1934, including: Paving abandoned car track lanes from Fifth to 17th st.; Fifth from Washington to Monroe St.; Washington, from Fourth to Fifth St.; Ave. A from Poplar to Smith St.; Main, from 12th to 20th St. Paving two intersections into fair grounds.

The May 31, 1934 issue of the Illustrated Daily News reports on New Deal help with installing street lights in Madison, Maine. Powerful Street Lights Mounted on 31 Ornamental Poles Illuminate Madison New Street Light System Recently Installed Under Direction of E. W. Adams Extends From Hunnewell Corner to M.C.R.R. Crossing -- Real Credit To Town   An important epoch in the history of Madison Improvement was brought to completion of Monday evening May 21st with the turning on for the first time of the new ornamental street lights which have been in the process of installation since last November, the powerful lights giving...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to pave streets in Denver in 1934. Interestingly, as reported by The New York Times: "Many of the streets are paved with smelter slag. This slag was assayed recently and showed values running up to $1,100 a ton in gold and silver. City officials are investigating to determine whether such assays indicated general or isolated values. If the former it is possible the next CWA project here will be the prospecting of Denver streets."

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) paved streets in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

By 1923 only about five miles of Tyler's 130 miles of street were paved and most residential streets remained unpaved. A bond for street paving passed in 1925 by Tyler provided funding for continued street paving, some of it in south central residential areas. When Federal money became available in the 1930s, the City applied for grants to continue the paving efforts. Paving using both brick and asphalt was conducted by the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Progress Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the mid-to-late 1930s (City of Tyler Engineering Records). By 1942 about 20 miles...

During the hard winter months of 1933-1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a work relief program that employed Portlanders on a variety of needed projects. Street repair work was one such project category. These men are shown on January 26, 1934 repairing a street damaged by the collapse of a retaining wall at the intersection of NW Maywood Drive and NW Melinda Avenue in Portland's West Hills. The CWA served as a federal relief program from November 8, 1933 through March 31, 1934.  When the CWA began, Oregon anticipated being able to put 21,000 men back to work on small...

The Civil Works Administration conducted a street repair project and a sidewalk construction project in Warrior, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-161: completed; "misc. street repairs". Work began Nov. 20, 1933. CWA Project No. 37-C-1857: 40% completed as of Mar. 31, 1934; "highway walkway". Work began Jan. 20, 1934.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) planted 10,000 street trees around Berkeley CA in 1933-34 and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) followed with 5,000 more, c. 1938-39.  (Gazette, 3/11/39) According to the city manager of Berkeley, 15,000 flowering fruit trees had been planted by April 1939 (Gazette, 4/4/1939) Street tree planting was a major, if unappreciated, aspect of the New Deal. Determining which trees were planted on which streets is impossible at this point, and most of the trees (particularly short-lived fruit trees) have passed on by this time.  Nevertheless, there are several streets, such as Hopkins Street, where elm, camphor and ash trees of...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted street widening work in Minocqua, Wisconwin in 1933.

In 1934 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) completed a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project in Calhoun, Georgia: "work on the streets in Calhoun."

The Civil Works Administration conducted a street improvement project and a sidewalk repair project in Fairfield, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-369: "streets". Work began Nov. 20, 1933; 95% complete as of Mar. 31, 1934. CWA Project No. 37-C-1606: sidewalk repairs". Work began Mar. 1, 1934; 80% complete as of Mar. 31, 1934.

The campus of Sul Ross State University was greatly developed during the 1930s as a result of efforts on the part of several New Deal agencies, including the Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). Per the El Paso Herald-Post: A modern state institution of higher learning in the far-western "Big Bend of Texas,” Sul Ross State College faces its 20th anniversary in 1940 with a college plant and campus of first rank among state educational centers Opening of a new $150,000 PWA dormitory for women this year has brought...

Among the numerous construction and improvement projects undertaken at Sul Ross State University during the Great Depression was the construction of the original outdoor theater at Kokernot Lodge by the Civil Works Administration (CWA). Per the El Paso Herald-Post: Earliest of relief projects on the campus ,a CWA program o 1934, and one of the most interesting in background is the outdoor theater at Kokernot Lodge, a park site presented to the college in 1929 by the: L. G. Kokernot heirs of Alpine. The stage is of native stone with seating capacity for 1200. It is flanked by dressing rooms and...

A mosquito control project was carried on from December 7, 1933 to February 1, 1934 at Old Orchard under C.W.A. funds. A swampy area adjacent to this resort was ditched to drain water which constantly remained there in a stagnant state serving as a breeding place for mosquitoes. Fifty men were employed. D. L. Moody was superintendent of the field work. Two miles of ditches were dug. Inspection in the summer of 1934 showed very satisfactory results obtained in draining this area.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) undertook a project involving the "draining of swamp lands northwest of ... the work employing about 20 men. With an aim of destroying mosquito breeding grounds this CWA project will constitute one of the many city improvements brought about by the recent employment program." Work on this project began in January 1934.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the former Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River, Wyoming. Cassity: "In Green River, CWA workers not only painted and renovated the exterior and interior but also the furniture and fixtures of the courthouse."

The federal Civil Works Administration constructed a municipal swimming pool at Memorial Park in Grove City, Pennsylvania between 1933 and 1934. The status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

A new swimming pool and municipal park were built in 1934 using Civil Works Administration funds. The school playground was furnished, athletic field improved with grading and concrete seats, teacher's home renovated, and repairs made to the high school. Dedication ceremonies were held May 4, 1934.

This park in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn was built by the Department of Parks in 1934. The press release announcing its opening described the facilities as including "a general girls' play field a boys' play field, a wading pool, basketball court, and an area for outdoor playground apparatus. Handball courts are also provided for boys. A brick recreation building with toilet facilities and indoor playrooms is being constructed.” The NYC Parks site also says that several Pin oaks were planted "in the hope that they might provide much needed areas of shade in the future." Although these sources do not...

Takoma Recreation Center is a large public recreational facility in Washington D.C., containing buildings, swimming pool, tennis courts and other facilities. New Deal agencies did extensive work on the site, 1933-36, as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program assisted by the Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The WPA alone undertook a million dollar program of improvements to district parks in 1935-36. The work at Takoma Recreation Center included: "Swimming pools and field house constructed; baseball diamonds, athletic fields graded and equipment installed; landscaping and lawn area at field house constructed; parking areas...

In 1933/4 the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) furnished the labor for construction of a new gymnasium floor at the now-former Talcott Junior High School in West Hartford, Connecticut.

"The development of Drew Field was a WPA project of major importance... In 1933, when Tampa began planning projects to provide work for the unemployed with federal assistance, Drew Field came back into the picture.  The city's lease on the 160-acre tract had expired, but the city finally succeeded after much squabbling, in buying it for $11,654, the amount at which it was appraised by the Tampa Real Estate Board.  This purchase was made on Feb. 10, 1934. Work on improving the field was started as a CWA project 10 days later, $31,000 being allotted for it by the government. ...

Civil Works Administration projects sponsored by the Wyoming's state highway department included "the widening and backsloping of portions of the Telephone Canyon Road east of Laramie." I-80 approximately follows this route.

The federal Civil Works Administration constructed public tennis courts in Georgetown, South Carolina, ca. 1934. The exact location and status of the project is unknown to Living New Deal. A photo of the work is available at the source link below.

"In 1934 Federal CWA and ERA funds were used for construction of 2 tennis courts, constructed with a 3 layer bituminous construction, new to northern New England, with a tile underdrain and surrounded by heavy wire fence. This made a total of 3 tennis courts on Eastern Promenade. The current 3 courts were renovated in 2000 with a new surface and perimeter fence. They are in excellent condition and heavily used."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a fish hatchery in Teton County, Wyoming. Casper Star-Tribune: "The Teton county hatchery was built by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, as a CWA project and will be in full operation this season. It will be of immense value in keeping the waters of the Jackson Hole region supplied, except Jackson lake, whose deep waters are the natural habitat of huge Mackinaws and Natives, the former weighing up to 36 pounds." The location and status of this project are unknown to Living New Deal.

"The Gilman Street Bridge, since named “Thayer Memorial Bridge” , which was undertaken as a C. W. A. project in 1933 was completed under F. E. R. A. early in 1934. Although the cost of this project exceeded the estimate by several thousand dollars, due to a sharp advance in the price of materials after construction started and to difficult working conditions because of extremely cold weather, it is a beautiful, well constructed and useful memorial to the vision and ability of the late Mayor Thayer to plan and bring to pass this project which will be an everlasting benefit...

There is evidence that Civil Works Administration (CWA) workers were hired to do painting on Theodore Roosevelt High School in fm 1933-1934. The school itself was built from 1930-1932, before the New Deal. Also at the site are two recently discovered Nathan Rosenberg murals that are currently being restored.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted a project "which consisted of sewer extensions on ... Third street" in Delaware City. The project was completed in Jan. 1934.

Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was construction along Thoroughfare Neck Road at the Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area. An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of the CWA’s road, sidewalk, bridge, and other related infrastructure efforts in Delaware.  

"As the economy began to shrink in 1931, the Santa Fe Railway had to cut its Albuquerque workforce by nearly 40 percent and reduce its workweek to four and a-half days. The county tried to help with temporary road jobs, and the federal government provided commodities, but it wasnt enough. In 1933 the Roosevelt Administration began the Civil Works Administration, which would provide a 90 percent match for public works projects. The CWA in 1933 and 1934 supported more than 30 projects in Albuquerque, including construction of Roosevelt Park and Tingley Beach, and provided hundreds of jobs." -Albuquerque Historical Society

" Tingley was first elected to the City Commission on April 4, 1922, and served continuously until his resignation on January 14, 1935 to begin his term as Governor. He returned to the Commission on October 11, 1939. He served ten years as chairman of the City Commission and in his capacity as chairman was the unofficial mayor of Albuquerque. Tingley reveled in his role as mayor of the city. He did little to reform his colorful, ungrammatical speech and gloried in the limelight. When Hollywood stars passed through Albuquerque, Tingley often met them at the train station where photographers...

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Tomas de Castro Road in Caguas.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the National Youth Administration (NYA) were involved in the construction of the Tonkawa Park in Crawford TX. According to the  Waco Tribune-Herald, "278 NYA youth contributed to building the park." Excerpt from Waco History: "During the Great Depression, the Texas Civil Works Administration funded the construction of Tonkawa Park, in an attempt to create jobs for locals. (The Civil Works Administration was a forerunner of the Works Progress Administration.) Crawford, given the choice of a city park or a city sewage system, chose the park. The close proximity of the beautiful Tonkawa Falls made their choice...

The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted tree trimming and tree planting work at Carlisle Town Forest in 1933-4. The Emergency Relief Administration and Works Progress Administration continued work at the site.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the then-Town Hall in Mills, Wyoming. The location of the structure is unknown to Living New Deal. Cassity: "The CWA repaired and remodeled the city hall in Mills, reworking virtually everything from reshingling the roof to replastering the jail in the basement ..."

The historic one-room Roosevelt School in Hamlin, Maine—now the community's town hall—was constructed in 1933. Sources suggest that the building was affiliated with the New Deal. It was likely constructed with federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) labor. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor to undertake numerous municipal improvements in Amherst, Ohio, among which was painting the community's historic Town Hall.

The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) and/or Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) made repairs and other improvements to Ashland, Massachusetts's town hall in 1934. "The interior of the Town Hall has been renovated extensively, and several changes made that have been a great improvement in the building." The E.R.A. repaired/replaced the building's heating plant in 1934. Concrete stairs and walks were installed at the building soon after, and the W.P.A. painted the building's exterior in 1937.

The federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted "much needed repairs" to Dover Massachusetts's Town Hall in 1933. Next year the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) regraded the town hall grounds, and also painted the building.